Knights Do It Again!

GLENDALE, CA - Knights come from behind in final at bat for second time over the Astros. With the 8-7 victory the Knights bettered their record to 7-4 and fell into another tie with the Culver City Cubs (who they lost to last week).

The Knights were without the managing expertise of Ryan Saul for the third time this season, but surprisingly they are 3-0 without the Red Hot Saulsa at the helm. They were also without the services of Colyn Van Buren, Austin Hurwitz, Ryan Brooks, Kevin Murkey, Erik Barber and Mike Vogel. So if your math is above a 3rd grade level 16 minus 7 still equals nine. Which were exactly how many players the Knights had to battle the Astros.

In baseball, nine are all you need especially when one of them is the Cuban Bull. Sulser got off to a rocky start giving up 5 runs in the first 3 innings on three home runs, but then he buckled down and knew he had to go deep into this game to give the Knights a chance to comeback. So that's what he did. Sulser tossed 6 more innings only giving up 1 more run and 2 more hits.

A Dog Showed Up From Out Of No Where...And Then The Rally Began. Then just like that *poof* he was gone. A true mystery.

Offensively, Sulser also got the ball rolling with his first hit of the season being a laser over the left field fence giving the Knights a run and shifting the momentum. Following suit the McDonald Brothers, Ian and Brendan, we 3-4 and 2-3 respectively, setting the table and even clearing it sometimes to spur on the Knights comeback. With the Knights tied 5-5 going into the top of the 6th inning the Knights shortstop Pete Halvorsen lead off with a double to left center, followed by an infield single from Rod Boaz moving Halvorsen, the tying run to third. Steve Fike then came up versus the lefty specialist and put together a great at bat fouling off 4 straight pitches, finally getting the one he could do something with and sending a fly ball deep enough to center to score Halvorsen and take the lead.

Seeing double? The McDonald Brothers go a combined 5-7 on the day.

This woke the Astros from their slumber and they came right back and tied the game in the 7th and took the lead in the 8th. Putting the Knights on their final at bat, down by one run, versus the Astros...Deja Vu anyone? If not, feel free to read about it here. But back to the present day, Josh Steiner reached on a throwing error to lead off the inning, followed by a Rod Boaz single which turned into a critical two base error when it went under the centerfielder's glove and allowed Steiner to reach third and Boaz second base. Boaz was then lifted as a non-runner for the last out which was the speedy Pete Halvorsen who represented the winning run. Steve Fike had an opportunity to be a hero for the second time this game after an amazing catch in centerfield robbing the Astros of more runs in the top of the inning. Fike worked the count full then took a ball in the dirt, loading the bases. Up stepped the struggling Pete Nelson, Nelson has been showing signs of coming out of his slump. All they needed was a fly ball from him to tie the game, with the infield in, Nelson wasted no time winning the game, hitting a flare over the SS into left field easily scoring Steiner with Halvorsen right on his heels sliding in with hands raised scoring the winnings run.

View All The Photos From The Game Here.

The Knights are back at it next week July 1, 2007 in Carson versus the Westside Brew Crew.